As a super obsessed and proud smut/romance reader, I never sought out controversial books. However, a few months ago my online readers group engaged in a long discussion/debate about books such as Tampa and Bryn Greenwood's All The Ugly & Beautiful Things. So of course, I had to read BOTH. My review for Bryn's book is on Goodreads as well.

I'm sure you are wondering WHY am I talking about THAT book in a review for Tampa. It's because that book gave me a false sense of readiness for the topic at hand. For the dark, twisted, sickening, level of disturbing that was presented by the antagonist in Tampa.

Bryn's book offer's multiple POV's, the story leaves you conflicted, unsettled, frustrated, sad, and confused but it is in fact beautiful. After reading it I felt that I was prepared for and had the stomach for such dark topics.

Yeah... No, I mean yes, I can handle it but NO I was not prepared.

Tampa is a shit show that will leave you outraged and in need of a shower. Celeste is a true predator. She is delusional, selfish, manipulative, methodical, and dangerous.

Celeste's character is based off of Deba Lafave a Florida school teacher who is a repeat offender. After the first 6 pages I had to take a break. I was so put off by the level of perversion and crazy that was Celeste. I had to remind myself that there is a double standard, and that media and society has prepared almost conditioned us to accept that pedophiles are dirty old men jacking off in the shadows which is why I was so caught off guard by this woman's actions and fantasies.

The author did a fantastic job providing facts as far as what predators look for in victims. Poor home lives, inactive parents, low self-esteem, anti-social, these are all traits that real life predators watch for. Easy targets, kids who will keep secrets. That's what Celeste wanted and that is what any social worker and child advocate will tell you is what predators want.

There was also a huge focus on the fact that male victims are not taken with the same sensitivity as female. It's almost an accomplishment to score with an older woman. Some males don't' see themselves as victims because it didn't hurt, they actively participated, they enjoyed themselves. I appreciated that the author gave us two victims. One who was emotionally affected, whose entire world was shifted if not destroyed by Celeste while the other not so much.

It's the casual dismission of actual damage being done to male victims that allows female predators to get away with so much more than men. A large portion of sex crimes in general are rarely reported. But I'm not here to turn this into a social discussion.

Fact is this book was well written, the subject matter was disturbing but addressed with earnest, if you can stomach the lewd behavior and complete this book, you will be left with renewed sense of knowledge and advocacy.

I absolutely love Nick and Holly. At first, I wondered if having a solid stand alone may be better than multiple holiday novella, but NO. I don't think I want that. I like that we get to skip the in between and just straight to the heat and big decisions. I like that we don't know if they will have future obstacles or unexpected surprised.

I love the chemistry that these two have. The age gap, the kinks, the toys. Nick is such an alpha yet his after care is everything I want and need. I love that Holly is plus size and that he adores every inch, fold, mark, of her. That his love, attention, and affection has increased her confidence.

They are my perfect couple, the dream relationship I want to be in.

Thanks, Dana, for doing your thang, for keeping it spicy, and introducing me to two new sex toys!!!

Highly recommend!! But be sure to read in order so you can appreciate their dynamic.

Sweet 8lb 6oz Baby Jesus. This was one of the HOTTEST reads I've come across all year, and it was under 100 pages. This is the FIRST story in the Twisted Christmas anthology. I usually wait until I've read the entire 1,000-page book and review each story, BUT this shit right here could not wait. I had to seek out this option to share with the world how much they need to read this taboo panty melting exhilarating story.

So, I've been seeing a lot of hype over Sierra Simone's Priest trilogy. I had no desire to read it because the idea of a HOT priest just seemed weird to me. I think I had some hang ups over the Catholic church in general and though I wouldn't be able to get into a dark/taboo romance in such a setting.

First THREE sentences of THIS story and I was intrigued, sold, never looked back.

Father Roman had my palms itching and stole the breath out of me. He was super alpha and protective yet relaxed with exceptional communication skills. (Guess he needs that for his day job). I love how he went down the rabbit hole with Cora. Cora was so innocent yet honest. I wanted nothing more than an HEA for them.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Holy shit I am overwhelmed with emotion. This book is epic Shawshank, Color Purple, Classic. I couldn't put it down. I am an huge romance reader and very rarely go outside that genre but I am so glad I did and will now search out every book written by Gillian Flynn. My heart is aching, my hands are numb and shaking and all I want to do is hold my children and tell them I will always love them and never let them go.

I've always been a fan of the bad guys and glob knows that when Once Upon a Time introduced Hook a bitch never missed an episode, he was in. So yeah, I may be bias because I already have a villain kink, but dayummm this was soo good.

As stated by the author, this is NOT a retelling, not fan fiction, not fantasy, it is a dark sad story about a broken man seeking vengeance and the woman who is meant to be collateral damage.

I loved how detailed the violence was in this book. Wendy's innocence annoyed me a bit but that's just because I prefer a stronger female lead. However, one would not have complimented this story.

While I felt like there was a bit of a red herring in this story, the plot twists and reveals were entertaining and unexpected.

I only give 5 stars to books that pull an emotional response from me. This book did just that. I was angry, disturbed, turned on, frustrated, and happy. I highly recommend!

Premise: Emotionally unstable mom is under attack by her highly intelligent sociopath seven-year-old daughter while oblivious and easily manipulated dad fails to see the danger.

This book was highly recommended and hyped up as disturbing. It started off slow and throughout the book there was a lot of "filler" paragraphs with the mom's backstory. While I understand it was provided to help the reader understand the mom's fragile mental state and explain/justify why she is neurotic, paranoid, and dramatic.

Personally, I felt like it was shoved down our throat and we could have done with LESS of her bullshit.

There are literally no likable main characters in this book. The mom is annoying, sometimes mean, always selfish, exudes fake empathy, and lacks common sense. There were so many obvious solutions to some of the issues at hand that she never considered. Example: Get a damn nanny cam so your husband doesn't think you are crazy!!

The husband is super gullible, hyper focused on work, and blind to the war zone going on in his home. Now in his defense, I will admit that both his wife and daughter are fake af around him. For the most part he only sees what is presented, however there were several times he refused to see what was presented or acknowledged it but brushed it under the rug.

And last is Hanna. As a parent who raised a "special" child and is very familiar with mental illness, I felt a bit conflicted when it came to Hanna. It's clear she is unstable, lacks the ability to feel empathy, and is a danger to others. With that said she is a child. Her parents have dropped the ball when it comes to getting her the help she needs.

One of my theories as to how and why things escaladed the way they have is the family's economic status. IF this were a low-income family, third party organizations such as Help Me Grow and WIC would have been involved from the start. Suzette would have had a better support system to help her explore other nonphysical reasons for her daughter's mutism. However most middle- and upper-class families aren't visited or bothered by third party organizations. They are just given a kid and it's assumed they got this.

There is also the shame. Suzette stressed how perfect she wanted to be for her husband. Like her daughter, she is obsessed with him and wants to please him. She has very little self-worth and the fear of judgement is strong. Her husband does little to reassure her as he himself wants to project a perfect family image.

Now for the ending. It was suggested that this ending was underwhelming. I can see WHY one would feel that way. But my analytical self really pulled it apart and I realized that EVERYTHING out sweet little sociopath feared came true. While she was misguided, irrational, and violent she was right about the mom. Thus, the Gone Girl references by so many reviewers. The mom is NOT what she seems. But Hanna is not a victim, and I was left with some real Norman Bates Psycho vibes. I would love it if a sequel was written.

Back story, I purchased this book in 2016 after seeing Tara Sivec promote it. For some unknown reason I never read it. Until now...

23 awkward sex stories and sadly i could relate to at least 10 or more. The authors cover everything from sex toys gone wrong, allergic reactions, accidental injuries, being interrupted, drunk fumbles, and so much more.

Most romance authors describe sex as decadent, dirty, and desirable, and while there are several HOT moments, each character has a dash of set backs and embarrassments. I loved this book. Its no longer available on Amazon so I urge you if you come across it in the wild, snatch it up and don't put it down.